Psychiatry Flashcards
What is the structure of a psychiatric history?
HPC - onset, duration, stressors
PMH - physical and mental health
FH - history of mental health and relationship with family
SH - housing, money and employment and substance abuse
PH - How was childhood, home environment, developmental milestones, school participation and enjoyment, and previous abuse?
Forensic history - offender/prison or victim
Premorbid history - how were they before their condition, strength and assets, hobbies and interests
What are the different parts of a mental state examination?
Appearance and behavior (psychomotor disorders, tremors, engagement, eye contact)
Speech - rate, tone, volume
Mood and affect - current mood and variation, is mood and affect congruent?
Thoughts - content –> delusions, obsessions, compulsions
- form –> loosening of associations, though blocking. flight
of ideas, Circumstantial, tangential
Perception - Hallucinations
Cognition-oriented in date, place, and time?
Insight - do they believe they need help, do they agree they need help, do they feel they have to take meds and are they working?
What is the DSM - V definition of ADHD?
A condition that incorporates features relating to inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity that is persistent
What are the diagnostic criteria for ADHD?
Element of developmental delay.
For children up to the age of 16 years, six of these features have to be present; in those aged 17 or over, the threshold is five features
What are the diagnostic features of inattention in ADHD?
Does not follow through on instructions
Reluctant to engage in mentally intense tasks
Easily distracted
Finds it difficult to sustain tasks
Finds it difficult to organize tasks or activities
often loses things that are necessary for tasks and activities
often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly
What are the diagnostic features of hyperactivity/impulsivity in ADHD?
Unable to play quietly
Talks excessively
Does not wait their turn easily
will spontaneously leave their seat when expected to sit
Is often on the go
Often interruptive and intrusive of others
Will answer prematurely, before a question has been finished
Will run and climb in situations where it is not appropriate.
What is the management of ADHD
Following the presentation, a ten-week wait-and-watch period should follow to observe
If sx persists then referral to secondary care e.g CAHMS
Drug therapy last resort and only for those over 5 years old
First line –> methylphenidate (CNS stimulant - dopamine/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor), the first line in children, Side-effects include abdominal pain, nausea and dyspepsia
Second line –> if no response with methylphenidate then switch to lisdexamfetamine
Third line –> Dexafetamine - who can’t handle lisdexamfetamine side effects
What are the criteria for diagnosis of depression?
–> Symptoms >2 weeks
–> Symptoms not due to alcohol, drugs, medication, or bereavement
–> The patient experiencing ≥5 symptoms, which must include either depressed mood AND/OR anhedonia
Symptoms must cause sig distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning
What are the core symptoms of depression?
S –> sleep changes e.g more or less sleep or early morning awakening
I –> loss of interests - anhedonia
G –> guilt or feeling of worthlessness
E –> energy changes, feeling tired
C –> changes in concentration
A –> appetite changes
P –> psychomotor agitation or retardation
S –> suicidal thoughts or acts
what are the somatic symptoms found in depression?
loss of emotional reactivity
Diurnal mood variation
anhedonia
early morning awakening
GI upset
headaches
What are the psychotic symptoms of depression
Delusions, e.g., poverty, personal inadequacy, guilt over presumed misdeeds, responsibility for world events, deserving of punishment and other nihilistic delusions
Hallucination, e.g., auditory (defamatory/accusatory and cries for help/screaming), olfactory (bad smells) and visual (tormentors, demons and The Devil etc.)
Catatonic symptoms –> marked psychomotor retardation such as depressive stupor
What is the DSM-V grading for depression severity?
–> Mild depression: 5 core symptoms + minor social/occupational impairment
–> Moderate depression: ≥5 core symptoms + variable degree of social/occupational impairment
–> Severe depression: ≥5 core symptoms + significant social/occupational impairment - can occur with or without psychotic symptoms.
At least 1 core symptom must be depressed mood OR anhedonia.
Subthreshold depressionis diagnosedif the person has at least 2, but fewer than 5 coresymptoms of depression
What are the subtypes of depression?
–> Dythmic disorder
–> post-natal depression
–> seasonal affective disorder
Describe the investigations for depression
–> psych Hx +MSE
–> patient health questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9)
–> Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS)
Baseline Investigations
–> FBC, ESR, B12/folate, U&Es, LFTs, TFTs, glucose and Ca2+
Focused investigations
–> ANA for vasculitides that could be causing headaches or general fatigue, urine/blood toxicology, ABG, thyroid antibodies, dexamethasone suppression test (Cushing’s disease), CT/MRI head
What is the treatment for depression?
–> Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
–> Antidepressants
First line: SSRIs, e.g., paroxetine, citalopram, fluoxetine, or sertraline (consider gastroprotection i.e., PPI)
SNRIs: duloxetine and venlafaxine
TCAs: Sedating (e.g., amitriptyline or clomipramine) and non-sedating (e.g., imipramine and lofepramine)
Alpha2-adrenoreceptor antagonist: Mirtazapine
MAOi: Isocarboxazid or Phenelzine sulfate
Information to patient: vigilant for worsening depressive symptoms, usually takes 2–4weeks for symptoms to improve
Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
Risk assessment
Which antidepressant SSRI should be used in patients with chronic health conditions and why?
Consider Citalopram or sertraline as lower propensity for interactions
Which SSRI antidepressant is associated with a higher incidence of discontinuation symptoms
Paroxetine
Which antidepressant should be given to children as a first line?
fluoxetine
Which antidepressant has a risk of prolonging the QT interval?
Citalopram/escitalopram
Which SSRI should be given in pregnant patients?
Use citalopram or sertraline
Others lead to fetal cardiovascular abnormalities
What are the TCA anticholinergic effects
Dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, bowel obstruction, dilated pupils, blurred vision, increased heart rate, and decreased sweating
Which TCA’s have the most and the least side effects such as cardiotoxicity and anticholinergic effects?
Lofepramine - least
Imipramine - most
Which antidepressants can help with weight gain in a patient with a low BMI?
alpha 2 adrenorecepetor antagonist - mirtazepine
Which type of food should patients avoid if they are taking MAOi and why?
Do not eat food or drinks that contain TYRAMINE because this can cause hypertensive crisis
E.g., cheese, liver and yoghurt
What is dysthymic disorder?
- Chronic moire than 2 years with depressive symptoms, which is less severe more more chronic
What are the clinical features of dysthymic disorder?
clinical features similar to depression
Depressed mood, reduced/increased appetite, insomnia/hypersomnia, reduced energy/fatigue, low self-esteem, poor concentration, difficulties making decisions and thoughts of hopelessness
What is the management for dysthymic disorder?
SSRI/TCA, CBT may be useful
What are the clinical features of seasonal affective disorder?
Clear seasonal pattern to recurrent depressive episodes
Usually January/February (‘winter depression’)
Low self-esteem, hypersomnia, fatigue, increased appetite/weight gain
Decreased social and occupational functioning
Symptoms mild-moderate
What is the management for seasonal affective disorder?
Light therapy
2hrs 2500lux light in the morning for 1-2 weeks
Maintenance 30 mins 2500lux every 1-2days
then SSRI
What is the definition of post-natal depression?
Significant depressive episode related to childbirth (<6 months post-partum)
What are the risk factors for postnatal depression?
FHx depression, older age
Single mother, poor maternal relationship
Ambivalence to pregnancy, poor social support, and severe baby blues (low mood after childbirth 30-80% of patients get this in the first-week post-delivery)
What are the additional clinical features found in post-natal depression?
worries about babies health or ability to cope adequately with the baby
What is the assessment for post-natal depression?
Psychiatric screen
MSE
Edinburgh postnatal depression screen (EPDS) then PHQ-9
What is the treatment for post-natal depression?
SSRI (e.g., paroxetine, sertraline or citalopram) ± CBT
these are used as they give the lowest levels in breast milk
in severe cases inpatient admission to mother and baby unit
What is the definition of generalized anxiety disorder?
Excessive worry/feelings of apprehension about everyday events/problems leading to significant distress/functional impairment.
What are the criteria for diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder?
–> Excessive anxiety and worry about everyday events/activities and difficulty controlling the worry on most days for 6 months
–> Should cause clinically significant distress/impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning
–> At least 3 associated symptoms
what are the generalised anxiety disorder-associated symptoms?
Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge
Being easily fatigued
Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
Irritability
Muscle tension
Sleep disturbance
derealisation
de-personalisation
Somatic features –> due to increased sympathetic tone include sweating, palpitations, dry mouth and a feeling of chest constriction
What is the assessment for generalised anxiety disorder?
Psychiatric history + MSE + GAD-7 questionnaire
What is the NICE stepwise care model for treating generalised anxiety disorder?
–>Education about GAD and treatment options with active monitoring
–> Individual non-facilitated or guided self-help and psycho-educational groups
–> CBT ± SSRI (sertraline first-line Second line: alternative SSRI or SNRI (venlafaxine – –> higher risk of toxicity, and duloxetine/ Third line: pregabalin)
–> CBT + SSRI (± input from multi-agency teams, crisis services, day hospitals or inpatient care)
Which drugs should not be offered to patients presenting with generalised anxiety disorders?
Benzodiazepines
Antipsycotics
What is the definition of panic disorder?
Recurrent, episodic, severe panic attacks that are unpredictable and NOT restricted to a particular situation/circumstance
What is the clinical presentation of panic disorder?
Symptoms peak within 10mins
Discrete episodes of intense fear
Autonomic arousal (PANICS Disorder)
P – Palpitations
A – Abdominal distress
N – Numbness/nausea
I – Intense fear of death
C – Choking/chest pain
S – Sweating/shaking/SOB
D – depersonalization/derealization
What are the investigations for panic disorder?
Psychiatric Hx + MSE
Blood: FBC, TFTs and glucose
ECG: sinus tachycardia
Rule out GAD with GAD-7
What is the treatment for panic disorder?
SSRIs (e.g., sertraline) > TCA (e.g. imipramine)
Don’t give BDZ!
CBT and self-help methods
Define phobic anxiety
Recurring excessive and unreasonable psychological or autonomic symptoms of anxiety in the (anticipated) presence of specific feared objects, situation, place or person leading, wherever possible to avoidance’
what are the 5 subtypes of phobic anxiety?
Animals
Aspects of the natural environment
blood/injury/injection
Situation
What is the management for phobic anxiety?
Behavioural therapy - graded exposure therapy
Education/anxiety management
BDZ e.g diazepam can help engage pt in exposure
What is the definition of PTSD?
Intense, prolonged, delayed reaction following exposure to an exceptionally traumatic event
What is the clinical presentation (classic quadrad) for PTSD?
Reliving the situation
Avoidance - avoiding reminders of the event
Hyperarousal - irritability, outbursts and difficulty sleeping/concentrating
Emotional numbing - negative thoughts about oneself, difficulty expressing emotion and feeling detached from others.
What is dissociative amnesia?
inability to remember an important aspect
What is the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD?
Exposure to a traumatic event, classic quadrad features present within 6 months of the event, features last > 1 month.
What are the investigations for PTSD?
psychiatry history
MSE
trauma screening questionnaire (TSQ)
What is the treatment for PTSD?
First-line: Trauma-focused CBT + Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
Sertraline/venlafaxine
Zopiclone - sleep distrubances
What is the definition of OCD?
a chronic condition, associated with marked anxiety and depression, characterized by ‘obsessions’ and/or ‘compulsions’
What is an obsession?
An idea, image or impulse recognized by patients as their own, but which is experienced as repetitive, intrusive and distressing
Aggressive: images of hurting a child or parent
Contamination: becoming contaminated by shaking hands with another person
Need for order: intense distress when objects are disordered or asymmetric
Repeated doubts: wonder if a door was left unlock
Sexual imagery: recurrent pornographic images
What is a compulsion?
behaviour or action recognised by patient as unnecessary and purposeless but which they cannot resist performing repeatedly.
Repetitive ritualistic activities performed to alleviate anxiety from obsession
Drive to perform action is recognised by the patient as their own
Checking = repeatedly checking locks, alarms, appliances
Cleaning = hand washing, which is typically overt due to obvious dermatological symptoms
Mental acts = counting and repeating words silently
Ordering = reordering objects to achieve symmetry
There is non passivity, differentiating it from schizophrenia
What are the causes of PTSD?
Developmental factors, psychological factors and stressors
What is the criteria for diagnosis of OCD?
Presence of either obsessions, compulsions, or both.
Obsessions/compulsions are time-consuming ( >1hr/day) or cause clinically significant distress/functional impairment
At some point patient recognises the symptoms to be excessive/unreasonable
what questions can you ask to screen for OCD?
Do you wash or clean a lot?
Do you check things a lot?
Is there any thought that keeps bothering you that you would like to get rid of but cannot?
Do your ADLs take a long time to finish?
Are you concerned about putting things in a special order or are you very upset by mess?
Do these problems trouble you?
What is the treatment for OCD
CBT + exposure and response prevention (ERP)
Behavioural therapy/psychotherapy (supportive)
Pharmacological approach: SSRI (first-line), clomipramine (second-line)
What is the definition of Bipolar disorder?
Depression + mania/hypomania occurring in episodes usually with months separating them.
Diagnosis requires at least 1 episode of mania or hypomania
What are the possible causes of Bipolar disorder?
Personality
childhood experiences
life events
biochemical/endocrine correlates of depression
What is Mania?
Elevated, expansive, euphoric, or irritable mood with ≥3 characteristic symptoms of mania on most days for 1 week
What are the symptoms of Mania?
Elevated mood and increased energy
Pressure of thought, flight of ideas, pressure of speech and word salad (increased energy)
Increased self-esteem (over-familiarity, grandiosity, overly optimistic) and reduced attention
Tendency to engage in risky behaviour (Preoccupation with extravagant, impracticable schemes, Spendy recklessly, Inappropriate sexual encounters)
Other: excitement, irritability, aggressiveness and suspiciousness
Marked disruption of work, social activities and family life
What are the psychotic symptoms seen in manic episodes?
Occur in up to 75% of manic episodes
Grandiose delusions e.g., special powers
Persecutory delusions may develop from suspiciousness
Auditory and visual hallucinations
Catatonia i.e., manic stupor
Total loss of insight
What is the criteria for a diagnosis of hypomania?
≥3 characteristic symptoms lasting ≥4 days and be present most of the day, almost every day
What are the symptoms of hypomania?
Shares mania symptoms
Symptoms evident to lesser degree
Not severe enough to interfere with social or occupational functioning
Does not result in hospital admission
No psychotic features
Mildly elevated, expansive, or irritable mood
Increased energy
Increased self-esteem
Sociability
Talkativeness
Over-familiarity
Reduced need for sleep
Difficulty focusing
What is Bipolar I disorder?
characterised by episodes of depression, mania or mixed states separated by periods of normal mood
What is Bipolar II disorder?
do not experience mania but have periods of hypomania, depression or mixed states
What is Cyclothymic disorder?
characterised by recurring depressive and hypomanic states, lasting for at least 2 years, that do not meet the diagnostic threshold for a major affective episode
Give examples of medication that can induce mania/hypomania
TCAs/NSRIs > SSRIs
benzodiazepines
antipsychotics
anti-Parkinsonian medications
What is the pharmacological treatment for Bipolar disorder?
Manic episode: lithium ± benzodiazepine (e.g., clonazepam or lorazepam)
Depressive episode: SSRI - least likley to induce mania
Maintenance: Lithium/ Carbamazepine
What are the side effects of Lithium and why can they be common?
Lithium has a narrow therapeutic range
weight gain
subclinical/clinical hypothyroidism
renal impairment
teratogenic - Ebstein’s anomaly - congenital malformation of the tricuspid valve
What is the therapeutic level for Lithium?
0.6-0.8 mmol/L
What type of drug is Lithium/carbamazepine?
mood stabilisers
What are the psychotherapeutic interventions for Bipolar disorder?
Psychoeducation
CBT
IPT
Support groups
What are the risk factors for Schizophrenia?
Bimodal distribution – 2nd-3rd decade and middle-age peaks
Family history of schizophrenia
Pre-morbid schizoid personality – abnormal shyness, eccentricity, fanaticism
Abuse – physical, sexual, emotional
Delayed developmental milestones
Obstetric – LBW, prem delivery, asphyxia
Substance abuse – cannabis, cocaine, LSD and amphetamines
Significant life event
Cerebral injury – trauma, tumour, disease
Acute psychosis – illness, surgery, reduced sleep
How can the symptoms of schizophrenia be grouped?
Positive symptoms - new feature that doesn’t have a physiological counterpart
Negative symptoms - removal of normal processes, can be a decrease of emotions or loss of interests anhedonia
Cognitive symptoms - not being able to remember things, learn new things or understand others, subtle and difficult to notice
What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
o Auditory hallucinations –> 2nd or 3rd person, in or out of head, Command, derogatory, running commentary
o Delusions:
False, unshakeable belief not in patients’ social/religious/cultural background
Beliefs - persecutory, grandiose, nihilistic, religious, referential, perceptive
Thoughts – insertion, withdrawal, broadcast
o Bizarre/disorganised/catatonic behaviour
o Tangentiality -> loosening of association
o Circumstantiality
o Speech:
Pressured, distractible
Verbigeration – obsessive repetition of random words
Perseveration – staying on the same topic with different stimuli
Word salad – random words with no connections
Disorganised speech
o Catatonic behaviour
What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
tend to be prodromal
* Avolition – decreased motivation
* Anhedonia
* Asocial behaviour
* Blunting/incongruity of affect
* Alogia – poverty of speech
* Depression
What are the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia?
not being able to remember things, learn new things or understand others, subtle and difficult to notice
What is the DSM-V diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia?
Two of the following:
Delusions –>At least one
Hallucinations –> At least one
Disorganised speech –> At least one
Disorganised/catatonic behaviour
Negative symptoms
Ongoing for 6 months
Not due to another condition - e,g drug abuse
What are the first rank symptoms of schizophrenia?
Hallucinations - 2 or more voices, talking about patient in 3rd person
Delusional perception
Passivity phenomena - bodily sensations controlled by external influence
Thought disorder - withdrawal/broadcasting/insertion
What are the second rank symptoms of Schizophrenia?
paranoid persecutory and referential delusions, -ve symptoms
What are the differentials for Schizophrenia?
Psychotic depression
Schizoaffective disorder
Personality disorder
Bipolar disorder
substance abuse
What are the investigations for schizophrenia?
Full psychiatry Hx + MSE
Exclude differentials –> psychotic depression, schizoaffective disorder, personality disorder, Bipolar disorder, substance abuse
Exclude physical causes –> Scans - CT/MRI head, toxicology screen, blood - FBC/U&E/LFT
What is schizoaffective disorder?
Mood disorder + schizophrenia
What are the different types of schizoaffective disorder?
Manic type – manic + psychotic symptoms
Depressive type – depressive + psychotic symptoms
Mixed type – depressive + manic + psychotic symptoms
What are the risk factors for schizoaffective disorder?
Family history of schizophrenia
substance abuse
psychological stress/environment